Search

All institutions of higher learning offer courses. In that sense all institutions of higher learning can designate themselves as teaching institutions. In this article we point out that, while stated objectives may be similar or even identical, there are differences in the level of commitment to teaching that characterizes institutions of higher learning. We present an outline of actions and activities derived from those objectives that we believe distinguish the level of both human and financial resources that institutions of higher learning should commit to be recognized as a "Teaching Institution" as compared to a teaching institution. The actions and activities we discuss are drawn from the literature on teaching. Objectives and examples of required actions that proceed from the objectives and the activities that proceed from these actions are drawn from the authors' institution and exemplified by the authors' record of publication regarding objectives, actions, and activities.

Assessment, or better stated, the assurance of student learning, has become a central issue in both the internal and the external evaluations of degree programs offered by colleges and universities. The continual importance of assurance of learning activities within institutions of higher education has generated a growing need to create empirical assessment efforts that are both meaningful and relevant to whatever goals and objectives an institution of higher education plans to achieve. Most of the learning that the institutions seek to assure takes place in the context of individual courses. For that reason progress in making assessment measurements more impactful suggests an approach that links specific class assignments and activities to specifically desired learning outcomes. The present paper presents an Assessment Validation Model. The model points out the linkages between and among activities relevant to assessment. The paper also provides empirical data that both demonstrate the effectiveness of the AVM and focus on validating the relationships between university level assessment objectives and learning objectives designed to be achieved within an individual class.

ostmortem redistribution (PMR), a well-known phenomenon in forensic toxicology, can result in substantial changes in drug concentrations after death, depending on the chemical characteristics of the drug, blood collection site, storage conditions of the body and postmortem interval (PMI). Limited PMR data are available for ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component in Cannabis sativa. PMR was evaluated after controlled cannabis inhalation via a smoking machine and exposure chamber in New Zealand white rabbits. Necropsies were performed on five control rabbits immediately after euthanasia, whereas 27 others were stored at room temperature (21°C) or refrigerated conditions (4°C) until necropsy at 2, 6, 16, 24 or 36 h after death. THC and its Phase I and glucuronidated Phase II metabolites were quantified in blood, vitreous humor, urine, bile and tissues by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS-MS). Under refrigerated temperature, heart blood THC concentrations significantly increased at PMI 2 h in rabbits, whereas peripheral blood THC concentrations showed a significant increase at PMI 16 h. Central:peripheral blood and liver:peripheral blood ratios for THC ranged from 0.13 to 4.1 and 0.28 to 8.9, respectively. Lung revealed the highest THC concentrations, while brain and liver exhibited the most stable THC concentrations over time. This report contributes much needed data to our understanding of postmortem THC behavior and can aid toxicologists in the interpretation of THC concentrations in medicolegal death investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the potential problems and benefits of departmental-level mentoring programs to improve faculty teaching, then describes the Program for the Enhancement of Teaching at DePaul University, including its specific activities such as lunches and seminars. (EV)

Abstract This article discusses a practice development project launched to improve the quality of care on nine adult acute inpatient wards at an NHS mental health trust. Evaluation of the [...]

Mechanical forces play an important role during brain development. In the early embryo, the anterior end of the neural tube enlarges and differentiates into the major brain subdivisions, including three expanding vesicles (forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain) separated by two constrictions. Once the anterior neuropore and the spinal neurocoel occlude, the brain tube undergoes further regional growth and expansion in response to increasing cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Although this is known to be a response to mechanical loads, the mechanical properties of the developing brain remain largely unknown. In this work, we measured regional opening angles (due to residual stress) and stiffness of the embryonic chick brain during Hamburger-Hamilton stages 11-13 (approximately 42-51 h incubation). Opening angles resulting from a radial cut on transverse brain slices were about 40-110 deg (depending on region and stage) and served as an indicator of circumferential residual stress. In addition, using a custom-made micro-indentation device and finite-element models, we determined regional indentation stiffness and material properties. The results indicate that the modulus is relatively independent of position and stage of development with the average shear modulus being about 220 Pa for stages 11-13 chick brains. Information on the regional material properties of the early embryonic brain will help illuminate the process of early brain morphogenesis. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4000169] Keywords: biomechanics, morphogenesis, microindentation, residual stress, neuroepithelium

Chronic bronchitis, a disease mainly of cigarette smokers, shares many clinical features with cystic fibrosis, a disease of altered ion transport, suggesting that the negative effects of cigarette smoke on mucociliary clearance may be mediated through alterations in ion transport. We tested the hypothesis that cigarette smoke extract would inhibit chloride secretion in human bronchial epithelial cells. In agreement with studies in canine trachea, cigarette smoke extract inhibited net chloride secretion without affecting sodium transport. We performed microelectrode impalements and impedance analysis studies to investigate the physiological mechanisms of this inhibition. These data demonstrated that cigarette smoke extract caused an acute increase in membrane resistances in conjunction with apical membrane hyperpolarization, an effect consistent with inhibition of an apical membrane anion conductance. After this acute phase, both membrane resistances decreased while membrane potentials continued to hyperpolarize, indicating that cigarette smoke extract also inhibited the basolateral entry of chloride into the cell. Furthermore, cigarette smoke extract caused an increase in mucin secretion. Therefore, the ion transport phenotype of human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke extract is similar to that of cystic fibrosis epithelia in which there is sodium absorption out of proportion to chloride secretion in the setting of increased mucus secretion. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; cystic fibrosis; cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator; airway surface liquid; mucociliary clearance

A description on Claude Rains who had a voice like honey mixed with gravel and an intelligent presence is presented. His foremost quality was a worldly tone of voice that suggested a morally ambiguous past and gave spice to cool charm of his English manners, through misadventures in World War I and a toning down of theatricality.

Director Federico Fellini, a maestro of neorealism in the 1960s, is regarded as a sentimental, overblown and self-indulgent filmmaker snared by his own intellectual and aesthetic pretensions. The whole first half of Fellini's career could be seen as a determined campaign to break free from the fetters of neorealism and assert his own vision.

THE GOVERNMENT re-established the matron role in response to public reports about dirty wards and poor standards. Trusts were charged with introducing the role by April 2002 (Mullally 2001), and [...]

Film director Ang Lee is discussed with emphasis on his career and his latest project released in 2000, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lee collaborated with writer James Schamus to produce a martial arts film with a difference.

Writer Bertolt Brecht did a remake of G.W. Pabst's 'The Threepenny Opera' because the film reportedly infringed on his copyright. Although both films characterized bankers as criminals, Brecht's 'Kuhle Wampe' incorporated a different plot, style, tone and method for producing the motion picture. However, Brecht's work had the same ending as Pabst's work which critics correlate to changes in his ideologies.